Phone survey with an agenda
Despite my better judgment, curiosity and my 14-year-old son compelled me to answer the phone last night even though it was a private caller. Sure enough, the caller was doing a political survey about the fifth congressional campaign. First off, was I planning to vote? Next, if I had to vote today, who would I vote for? Then came the interesting part—the caller said he would read me the candidates’ stated positions on key issues and ask me which statement most represented my view. He then went on to read statements for four candidates, in this order: Niki Tsongas (NT), Jamie Eldridge (JE), Barry Finegold (BF) and Eileen Donoghue (ED). If you took this survey, I’d love to know your thoughts about its bias since the caller would not reveal the sponsor. He also assured me he did not favor a candidate and was reading a prepared script, but his tone while reading JE’s statements was admiring. On a final note, he wanted me to know that NT was a leader of the Concord Coalition, a group advocating for privatization of social security and medicare, and that many see her as someone who “does not understand the values of democratic voters and will not vote for progressive policy.” I’m no expert on the candidates, but I do pay attention. (I have attended two debates and will be at the NPA-sponsored forum tomorrow morning.) And, as I told the caller last night, from what I’ve seen of NT, his last comments did not seem accurate. At this point, he admitted that she said she was only loosely affiliated with that group. The survey clearly targeted NT and favored JE. A summary of the statements read to me for each candidate follows: Regarding healthcare—NT supports the Massachusetts model; JE is the only candidate to support single-payer universal health care; BF favors government-run healthcare that would compete with private, and he would ban drug advertising on television; and ED supports the concept of universal healthcare, but since there is no will in Congress for it, her focus is on incremental steps. Regarding Iraq—NT would bring troops home over short time period; BF wants to create three separate states there and doesn’t think we should leave yet; JE wants to end our military presence there immediately and focus on skilled diplomacy to resolve issues; and ED wants to ensure the safety of our troops during a withdrawal over the next 18 months. Regarding the candidates—NT is considered liberal on social issues and conservative on economic. JE believes it is not enough to just be a democrat, but you need to be a leader that encourages other democrats to stand up for progressive values; BF is considered a moderate democrat, and he founded the Mass. Chapter of the Democratic Leadership Council, a group working to move democrats from a left/liberal stance to more of a middle road position. ED is supported mainly by Lowell residents and is considered an effective administrator more than someone driven by idealogy, although she has somewhat liberal leanings.